The Sovereignty In Babylon-5's Universe
SELINIANS & SOVEREIGNTY IN BABYLON-5 'Overview;' If the 'Younger Races' are 'Children', then the Selinians are the 'Teenagers' of the galaxy. With over 140 Millennia of continuous history and civilizational development, they are quite a bit different from the Younger Races and very powerful. 30 thousand Light Years from Earth, in the region of space approximate to the Southern Constellation of the Crux (but better known for the name of its cross-shaped asterism: The Southern Cross) is the Sovereignty. The Dragonfish Nebula has cloaked the Selinian worlds from a large part of the galaxy's telescopes and assorted other long-range instruments for many thousands of years. Within it, are numerous Selinian outposts with sophisticated telescopes and assorted other long-range instruments that keep watch and study the regions of the galaxy hidden from them normally. Selinianity has a continuous history stretching back over 140 Millenia, and because of that are one of the Galaxy's more powerful races. The Sovereignty holds dozens of worlds under the principle of 'Independent yet United', and all are heavily defended, by their own defense forces and able to call on the Sovereignty Military for assistance and backup. Selinians do not delude themselves about the nature of the Galaxy and the Defense Networks in their systems are proof of that, and not to be tested frivolously as Selinianity rarely bothers to ask what intruders want before dealing with them--often with utter finality. 'WAR HISTORY;' While some would call them 'paranoid', they are in fact the Victors of many wars and assaults brought to to them by external civilizations, not the least of such are the Vorlons and Shadows with their cyclical wars, as they flatly refused to be pawns in the wars wrought by supposedly 'higher' lifeforms. It was Selinianity that rendered Z'Ha'Dum into the blasted ruin of a world that it was when visited by the Icarus. This was done to make a Statement to both Vorlons and Shadows that they could strike back very effectively despite being a much younger species compared to the First Ones. From such experience they have learned the true nature of living in the galaxy and accept it. 'THE LESSON;' The Battle Of Z'Ha'Dum involved weeks of constant fighting in Z'Ha'Dum's system and around the world itself as Sovereignty fleets and Shadow armadas fought and sought to outmaneuver each other, with ships constantly jumping into and out of Hyperspace as well as Quantum space as they sought to englobe or evade the enemy and get past each other's defenses. The battle was fought without even a trace of mercy by both sides and Vorlon spy drones showed the Vorlons what Selinianity was truly like when provoked sufficiently...and the Vorlons knew fear at learning such and seeing it played out against their mortal enemies. From then onward, the Vorlons kept an eye on Selinianity but did nothing to provoke them. In the end, sheer ruthlessness and inventiveness on the part of Selinianity won through, using automated shuttles as suicide missiles and decoys, equipped with unthinkably powerful anti-matter triggered Fusion warheads aboard them they finally broke the Shadow defense lines and exploited that crack to split the Shadow forces, then compartmentalize and quickly annihilate them. The losses Selinianity experienced were massive, on a par with the losses Humanity experienced during the Earth-Minbari War, but Selinianity retained it's Independence from external manipulations and taught two of the Galaxy's most powerful civilizations a sobering lesson about courage, willpower and the drive to remain free. The remnants of the Sovereignty fleet, joined by reserves, then bombarded Z'Ha'Dum with fusion and Anti-matter Weapons for days on end, completely devastating the surface beyond any hope of it ever recovering an ecosystem. Time passed, as it did between the cyclical Proxy Wars of squabbling First Ones. Selinianity managed to forge some contact with a few of the First Ones such as The Walkers of Sigma-957, but chose to leave the ancient beings alone and only rarely ventured Respectfully into their regions of space, and then only with justifiable cause. The Vorlons and Shadows however had earned only their cold contempt, and even though Selinianity scavenged Vorlon & Shadow technology to study, they had no desire to contact or be contacted by the Vorlons nor the Shadows. As a people, Selinianity went through a prolonged reclusive period, where few explorations were done outside the Sovereignty and Selinianity kept to itself, largely ignoring the rest of the Galaxy in favour of developing the worlds and systems already encompassed by the Sovereignty's claims. This was a time known as The Consolidation, and it was more about refining what already was instead of coming up with new things. Technology didn't advance greatly during this time, but was refined to extremely fine degrees. Jump Engines, as example, were made much smaller and incredibly efficient, needing vastly less Quantium-40, and Hyperspace navigation was elevated to the highest degree. Likewise the same regarding Quantum Space and the equipment associated to it. The Sovereignty's population grew steadily and quickly, replacing lives lost in the war, and Worldforming technologies and technique were refined to a level the Younger Races would claim to be impossible. Exploration began again, and one world that was visited again was Earth. The previous visitations had been during the last Ice Age, which saw many samples of animal and plant life brought back to be cultivated, with Smilodon Fatalis becoming a popular companion animal across the Sovereignty. Likewise, this occured again, but on a larger scale as the world was now warm again with a much greater ecosystem. The first conflict vs. The Shadows involving the Younger Races flared across the stars, and while Selinianity did observe, they took no part in it. However, the Sovereignty did remain geared for War until it's conclusion, and while the Shadows did attempt to coerce Selinianity into siding with their ranks, they were 'reminded' that the Sovereignty could always finish what they started at Z'Ha'Dum, and the Shadows did not doubt their ability nor willingness to do such.